At nine-thirty, Jim and Clark met in front of Soda Sam's and started for the Country Club in Clark's Ford. "Jim," asked Clark casually, as they rattled through the jasmine-scented night, "how do you keep alive?"

The Jelly-bean paused, considered.

"Well," he said finally, "I got a room over Tilly's garage. I help him some with the cars in the afternoon an' he gives it to me free. Sometimes I drive one of his taxies and pick up a little thataway. I get fed up doin' that regular though."

"That all?"

"Well, when there's a lot of work I help him by the day--Saturdays usually--and then there's one main source of revenue I don't generally mention. Maybe you don't recollect I'm about the champion crap-shooter of this town. They make me shoot from a cup now because once I get the feel of a pair of dice they just roll for me."

Clark grinned appreciatively,

"I never could learn to set 'em so's they'd do what I wanted. Wi

Reader Reviews

If you know Fitzgerald mainly from "The Great Gatsby," these early stories will fill in the picture -- they run from melodrama to fantasy to short, odd drama. "The Camel-Back" is a lighthearted love story; "May-Day" is its opposite, a three-part tragedy in high and low society, vividly reported. One or two of the magazine pieces are the worse for being 80 years out of context, but other stories, such as "The Lees of Happiness," have enduring heart.